


Be Strong For Me

by oorsprong



Series: That Unsteady Afterglow [13]
Category: Star Wars Episode VII: The Force Awakens (2015)
Genre: Angst, Drama, M/M, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-02-21
Updated: 2016-02-21
Packaged: 2018-05-22 10:45:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,176
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6076398
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/oorsprong/pseuds/oorsprong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>General Hux has nothing to lose as he and Kylo Ren are brought before Supreme Leader Snoke to hear the future that awaits them.</p><p> </p><p>  <i>If I am to be witness to his death at least let me not shame him.</i></p>
            </blockquote>





	Be Strong For Me

**Author's Note:**

  * For [PolypusRegina](https://archiveofourown.org/users/PolypusRegina/gifts).



In the end they are summoned to a holochamber for the audience with the Supreme Leader.  Kylo isn’t sure how to take it as a sign.  It could mean that he doesn’t want to waste time taking Hux away from the Finalizer as he’ll be under new orders.  It could also mean that he doesn’t want to bother bringing them both down to the planet only for Hux to be…  He can’t finish the thought.  Snoke could easily do it from here if he really wanted to.  It doesn’t mean anything that he hasn’t summoned them both down to the planet.  Whatever happens will happen here on board.

 

Hux gave him instructions the night before; whispered them to him along with words of cold comfort as they held one another in the early hours of the morning.  Everything left to say had been said but Kylo found himself thinking of a million little things that might yet have made a difference.  Hux’s commands made no sense to him.

 

_Don’t deny anything I accuse you of, Ren.  This is important.  Look impartial or even angry if you must but don’t disagree.  If you deny my words you might doom us both._

 

Hux comes up from the other end of the corridor looking like hell.  His uniform remains impeccable but his hair is in disarray and he hasn’t shaved.  It’s a grim sight.

 

“Lord Ren,” he says with a curt nod.  Kylo, feeling utterly naked without even the flimsy protection of his mask in preparation to meet the Supreme Leader, can only nod in return.  He works hard to keep his face as impassive as he can as they enter the chamber together.

 

_If I am to be witness to his death at least let me not shame him._

 

Ren keeps his head high as Snoke materializes on the dais.

 

“So, Kylo Ren.  You have returned with nothing but your life and your failure.  I am displeased.“

 

“Supreme Leader,” Kylo says, bowing deeply, “I acknowledge that the fault was mine.  You can be assured that in the future--”

 

“It is by my grace that you are permitted a future,” Snoke snaps.  The looming figure turns to Hux and peers at him as though he’s some curious species of insect.  

 

“General Hux.”  

 

Kylo does not like the tone of his master’s voice.  Not at all.

 

“Supreme Leader,” Hux acknowledges, dipping his head in a flicker of a nod that borders on defiance.  “I eagerly await your verdict.”

 

“Verdict?” the voice emanating from the projector sounds almost amused.

 

“My life is forfeit, is it not?”  Hux runs a hand through the hair he hasn’t bothered to brush, let alone style, and lets out a snort of a laugh.  “But I intend to bargain for it.  No need to be coy when there’s nothing to lose.”

 

Snoke’s eyes narrow.  “Why, General, I believe you misunderstand the purpose of this meeting.”

 

“No, Supreme Leader, I don’t believe I do.”  

 

Kylo’s heart drops at the words.  What the hell is Hux doing?

 

“I have served the First Order faithfully for years.  It’s all I have in this life,” the General continues.  “But I have no sympathy for failure-- not on this colossal scale.  I’d have a man stripped of his rank for a lesser offense than this.”

 

“Indeed, you are perceptive, General,” Snoke drawls.  “Please enlighten me as to why I shouldn’t do exactly that.”

 

“You _should_ do that because it’s the job of a leader to provide an example.  Failure cannot be tolerated.  But I have a proposal that will benefit us all.”

 

“General Hux, you are in no position to bargain.”

 

“No, Supreme Leader,” Hux says, bravely stepping forward to face Snoke, “but I put my life in your hands, regardless.  Your apprentice has destroyed everything I have worked to build.  Bad enough he uses me for the indulgence of his base desires.  Now he’s proved himself incapable of working with me for the good of the Order.”

 

The silence in the chamber grows oppressive.  Kylo would swear the temperature has dropped a few degrees but inside he’s burning alive, terrified of what comes next.

 

“Base desires?” Snoke says after a long moment.  He sounds as though he’s turning the words over to catch their meaning.  

 

“Supreme Leader, surely you realize your apprentice has been using me for sex for some time?  It’s humiliating that I must endure his fumbling incompetence personally as well as professionally."

 

Kylo feels his thoughts seized in Snoke’s rough grip and rifled through as though they’re no more than pages in a primitive book.  His liaisons with Hux are being laid bare, inspected, and dismissed individually.  He allows rage to seep in for fear of shame overwhelming his senses.

 

“Supreme Leader,” Kylo gasps, throwing a glance at Hux who is glaring at him.

 

“Is it not my right, Supreme Leader?  Should I not have an outlet for these human desires?”  He focuses on all the anger Hux is projecting and throws it right back at him.  The air is thick with tension.  Surely Snoke must sense this blossom of fury inside him.

 

Snoke looks from one to the other, his scarred face unreadable.

 

“What of it,” he says finally, directing his words to Hux.  “My apprentice is beyond sentiment.  He’s proved himself loyal to my cause.  What do I care what he does with your… body?”

 

Hux staggers back slightly and bows.

 

“Of course, Supreme Leader.  Which is why I am certain you will find my proposition favorable.”

 

“Speak, then,” Snoke commands, clearly tired of this game.

 

“Your apprentice, Kylo Ren, has disgraced me.  Now I will be bereft of the command I have worked my entire life to establish.  I have served you faithfully and wish to continue to serve you faithfully.  If I cannot do it in this capacity I must find another.”

 

Hux stops to take a breath, he’s shaking with rage now.  Kylo can feel it coming off him like the rays of a star.

 

“I humbly accept a full condemnation and dishonorable discharge.  It is without pride that I acknowledge myself as the best military strategist in your employ.  Your apprentice Kylo Ren is strong with the force but has no head for war on the grand scale.  I will tutor him in preparation for his return to command.  I shudder to think what might happen to the next General in command of the fleet if his recklessness is allowed to continue.”

 

“Audacious,” Snoke hisses.  “And how does this benefit you?”

 

"As a disgraced former General I have no prospects to better myself.  I will be reduced to a target for the resistance.  I want Kylo Ren’s protection.  I want access to his assets and his privileges.  I want it binding and I want it legal.”

 

Snoke makes a noise that might be a laugh.  It’s an ugly sound.  Kylo can only watch in shock as he leans in and speaks to Hux in a low voice.

 

“You are a _parasite_ , Brendol Hux, nothing more than a mynock feeding off any source of power you can attach yourself to in a pathetic attempt to keep some measure of control.  I see right through you; selfish, force-blind creature that you are, and I am impressed.  You may be of some use to me yet.

 

Very well.  If it humbles my apprentice to be publicly forced to acknowledge you, all to the good.  My acolyte could use a lesson in humility.  And when he’s taken all you have to give of yourself he may terminate the agreement by any means necessary.  Your life is in his hands now… General,” Snoke adds, punctuating it with a sneer.

 

“Kylo Ren, you may report to me on the planet’s surface.  Bring your plaything or don’t.  It matters not.  Inform the crew of this decision.  I believe the fleet is capable of promoting from among it’s ranks without my interference.”

 

“Supreme Leader,” Kylo says with a bow of acknowledgement, afraid to say anything else.  His legs are trembling as he leaves the holochamber with Hux at his side.

 

The corridor is empty and he slumps against a wall, trying to catch his breath.

 

“What just happened?” he manages finally.

 

Hux puts his hands behind his back and paces the corridor, looking every bit the general conveying his orders.

 

“Snoke has commanded you to bind yourself to me legally.  I believe the technical term for that is _marriage._   I’ll accompany you to the planet, of course.  After that what we do is our business.  When your training is finished I’d like to find a quiet place under the protection of the First Order where I can stay in peace when I’m not assisting you.  Somewhere you can come home to.  It would be nice to pick up a hobby or two.  I’ll be your date for all formal functions, of course.  It may be odd for my… associates… to see me in that position but it is what it is.  I’ll be the laughing stock of the fleet.  Well, no matter.  We’re both alive.  I have you.  That’s all I care about.”

 

“Brell…” Kylo says, gaping.  “I don’t understand. He saw it.  He saw everything between us.”

 

“He didn't see a thing.  He isn’t like us, Ren, you even said so yourself.  He’s disgusted by the idea of sentiment but he can’t see it for what it is.  Whatever he plucked out of your head translated as two people using each other physically.”

 

Hux steps over and boldly slips his arms around him; presses his lips to Kylo’s ear.

 

“He can’t see that I love you and he never will.”

 

“But your command--”

 

“That was gone the moment Starkiller Base was destroyed.  It was only a matter of leveraging the loss to our advantage.  Hey, look at me.”

 

He takes Kylo’s face in his hands, the relief in his eyes evident as they gaze at one another.

 

“I’m yours now.  Just yours.  Let’s not waste any more time worrying about what came before.  We have a marriage license to register.  We don’t even need any witnesses.  Once it’s in the databanks that part is over with-- are you-- are you alright, Ren?’

 

“...thought I was going to lose you.”

 

“Things are going to happen quickly.  Process it later.  We don’t have time to celebrate.”

 

Hux strides off down the corridor with renewed purpose and Kylo hurries to catch up.

 

“What will we tell the crew?”

 

“Tell them that your husband doesn’t care for drawn out goodbyes.”

 

***

 

Within the hour the news has spread throughout the ship.  Hux stands at Kylo’s side while he’s read an abbreviated version of his terms of discharge.  This is the hardest part.  When they are escorted to the docking bay Kylo can feel his misery at being paraded before the crew like this but it can’t be helped.  They have to board the shuttle.

 

Kylo offers an arm to Hux, touched by the wave of gratitude that breaks over him as his beloved takes it.  He won’t have to face it alone; the stares, the discomforting silence-- any of it.  

 

Together they walk down the narrow corridor flanked with onlookers.   _Be strong for me_ , Kylo wills him, wishing the ship were smaller and the crew less numerous.  When they reach the shuttle Kylo openly takes his hand and sweeps a frigid glare over the crowd; a dare to any of them to say a word.  Phasma stands at the ready and when the knight focuses on her he’s surprised to receive an almost pleasant flutter of thoughts.  She’s amused but he can detect no cruelty in it.  There’s warmth there for Brendol and a mixture of regret and relief.  He nudges Hux and murmurs, “Phasma will miss you.”

 

Hux glances up in surprise and nods to his former subordinate.  She tilts her head behind the mask.

 

“It’s been an honor to serve with you, Captain,” he says, voice nearly shaking with the effort.

 

“The pleasure was mine, General.  Lord Ren, I trust you will take care of him.”

 

“He will never come to harm,” Kylo promises, softening the words as much as his persona will permit.  He’s still “Lord Ren” here and cannot sabotage his image with the crew.

 

When they board the shuttle they are seated across from two armed stormtroopers.  They require no envoy but procedure can’t be broken when it comes to a former officer leaving in disgrace.  As the shuttle lifts off and heads for the cold blues of the planet upon which the Supreme Leader has built his fortress, Kylo brings Hux’s hand to his lips and kisses his knuckles in tender defiance of watching eyes.

  
Hux offers him a smile in return, so potent with unspoken devotion that it makes his chest ache.  Kylo wants to gather him in his arms and reassure him but he doesn’t dare remove the last vestiges of dignity he has in front of his crew.  Comforting can wait.  Now it’s enough to see the glimmer of hope in his husband’s eyes.

**Author's Note:**

> Believe it or not there is still one installment to go but thank you so kindly all of you who are reading along with this series! I couldn't deny them a happy ending, even if it had to be bittersweet!
> 
>  
> 
> 6/22 edit: Please go see the fantastic art that [Katherine1753](http://katherine1753.tumblr.com) did for this story [here](http://katherine1753.tumblr.com/post/146321736459/he-takes-kylos-face-in-his-hands-the-relief-in)


End file.
